In Act 5 Scene 1 Lady Macbeth asks, "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" In what way does this remark indicate a whole host of changes in Lady Macbeth related to innocence and guilt, strength and weakness, and sanity and insanity?
Lady Macbeth is struggling to deal with all the guilt she feels because of her involvement with the recent murder of Macduff's family. Her guilt is ironic because she convinced Macbeth to go through with the murder of Duncan and after she aided Macbeth in killing Duncan, she was quick to make sure her and Macbeth would not be caught by immediately washing their hands. After Duncan's murder her guilt was washed away with simply washing her hands, but this time, she repeatedly washes her hands and she still imagines blood on them, which shows her change from sanity to insanity.
At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is cold hearted and seems like she would be unaffected by murdering someone because of how she speaks about murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth is the one to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, and she makes it seem like if Macbeth did not proceed with the murder that would make him weak. This makes Lady Macbeth seem as if she thinks murdering someone is not a big deal, or something you have to think hard about. That is why it is surprising later on the play when she goes insane from guilt and eventually kills herself. When she says "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" she is wondering whether she will ever truly be free of guilt and be able to redeem her soul. This is in contrast to earlier in the play when She easily washes the blood of her hands after helping to kill Duncan. Although it did seem to be an emotional moment, once the blood had been washed away she felt everything would be okay. In act two scene two she says "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it, then!" This shows how Lady Macbeth thought everything would be okay once the blood was gone, but she now sees that the blood can never truly be gone.
When Lady Macbeth asks “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” one is able to understand that she has finally begun to feel guilty for the actions she has committed. Although Lady Macbeth is the one to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, she is able to wash her guilt away both literally and figuratively by washing her hands. But, the more people her and Macbeth kill, the harder it is to wash their hands free of guilt. Lady Macbeth also slowly becomes insane since she feels so guilty. At one point, she begins to hallucinate and see blood on her hands. Once Lady Macbeth says this, she also expresses weakness since she cannot live with her guilt anymore.
Whereas Lady Macbeth was the one trying to keep Macbeth from going insane, and even pushing him to kill Duncan, she is now having a crisis of conscience. She is sleep walking and hallucinating, just like Macbeth was, earlier in the play. She is constantly trying to wash the blood off of her hands, which symbolizes the the sins that she has committed. Lady Macbeth is weak, and is unable to deal with the crimes that have brought her up to the highest authority in Scotland. Unlike Macbeth, she is not used to the sight of murder, which has rendered her insane and hopeless.
Lady Macbeth is struggling to deal with all the guilt she feels because of her involvement with the recent murder of Macduff's family. Her guilt is ironic because she convinced Macbeth to go through with the murder of Duncan and after she aided Macbeth in killing Duncan, she was quick to make sure her and Macbeth would not be caught by immediately washing their hands. After Duncan's murder her guilt was washed away with simply washing her hands, but this time, she repeatedly washes her hands and she still imagines blood on them, which shows her change from sanity to insanity.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth is cold hearted and seems like she would be unaffected by murdering someone because of how she speaks about murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth is the one to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, and she makes it seem like if Macbeth did not proceed with the murder that would make him weak. This makes Lady Macbeth seem as if she thinks murdering someone is not a big deal, or something you have to think hard about. That is why it is surprising later on the play when she goes insane from guilt and eventually kills herself. When she says "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" she is wondering whether she will ever truly be free of guilt and be able to redeem her soul. This is in contrast to earlier in the play when She easily washes the blood of her hands after helping to kill Duncan. Although it did seem to be an emotional moment, once the blood had been washed away she felt everything would be okay. In act two scene two she says "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it, then!" This shows how Lady Macbeth thought everything would be okay once the blood was gone, but she now sees that the blood can never truly be gone.
ReplyDeleteWhen Lady Macbeth asks “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” one is able to understand that she has finally begun to feel guilty for the actions she has committed. Although Lady Macbeth is the one to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan, she is able to wash her guilt away both literally and figuratively by washing her hands. But, the more people her and Macbeth kill, the harder it is to wash their hands free of guilt. Lady Macbeth also slowly becomes insane since she feels so guilty. At one point, she begins to hallucinate and see blood on her hands. Once Lady Macbeth says this, she also expresses weakness since she cannot live with her guilt anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhereas Lady Macbeth was the one trying to keep Macbeth from going insane, and even pushing him to kill Duncan, she is now having a crisis of conscience. She is sleep walking and hallucinating, just like Macbeth was, earlier in the play. She is constantly trying to wash the blood off of her hands, which symbolizes the the sins that she has committed. Lady Macbeth is weak, and is unable to deal with the crimes that have brought her up to the highest authority in Scotland. Unlike Macbeth, she is not used to the sight of murder, which has rendered her insane and hopeless.
ReplyDelete